• Tourism to take a hit 
• Tea exports likely to be affected 
• Global oil price hike to compound situation

By Easwaran Rutnam   

Sri Lanka is bracing for what could be a major impact to the already unstable economy as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.   

Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is expected to hit Sri Lanka’s tourism sector as well as tea exports and the purchasing of oil.   

Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage said that the most number of tourists to Sri Lanka arrived from Russia and Ukraine in the recent past.   

He said that Sri Lanka is expecting arrivals from those countries to be affected as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.   
“That will have a major impact on us,” the Foreign Secretary said at a virtual media briefing yesterday.   
Colombage also said that Sri Lanka will find it hard to sell its tea as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.   
Russia and Ukraine are among the key countries to which Sri Lanka exports tea.   

He also said that Sri Lanka will be compelled to pay more for oil and gas imported to the country.   
World oil prices have already shot up as a result of the situation in Ukraine and Sri Lanka will need more dollars to pay for the imports.   

“We will once again have to face a situation,” the Foreign Secretary said with regards to the impact the crisis will have on the local economy.   

Meanwhile, former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU and proposed by other major trading nations may also affect Sri Lanka’s trade ties with Russia.   

Bogollagama told Daily Mirror that Sri Lanka will be compelled to comply with any sanctions imposed by the EU or the US on Russia.   

He said that would then hurt Sri Lanka’s economy as Russia is a major trading partner of Sri Lanka.